


Kiss Cam

by SpaceAce



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Non-binary Pidge (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceAce/pseuds/SpaceAce
Summary: Lance finally gets a date with Nyma, but it doesn't really go as planned.





	1. Go Lions!

Lance >>> Hunk 14:37

_ooookay, i’ll admit it.. this date is not going as well as i thoughtt :(((_

 

Lance looks up from his phone and turns his head to see his date. Nyma does not do him the favor to look up from her phone. She had been typing on it ever since the game began. Now, Lance would be the first to admit that baseball is not the most …captivating of sports, but Nyma’s friend Rolo had said this was Nyma’s favorite sport to watch.

 

Lance >>> Hunk 14:38

_I think rolo lied to me;;_

 

This was the absolute worse thing to happen to Lance all week. He had been trying to get Nyma to go on a date with him for _months_. He had been unsuccessful twenty-three times (but who’s counting right?) and finally got her to agree to go to this game with him after embarrassing himself in front of the entire student body at Altea University by bringing her about fifty roses in the school colors.

Those roses had cost him a fortune. And so had the tickets to the game. Lance had only gotten tickets at the very top of the stadium, but that was already a small miracle considering that the entire place was almost sold out.

The saddest thing about these seats is that Lance can't even distract himself from the disastrous date by watching the game. From up here he can only make out various blobs of color on the field. Spaced out over the bases and the outfield are the fabulous Altean Lions dressed in all black uniforms adorned with vibrant stripes of blue, red, green, and yellow.

Lance’s eyes glide to the front of the field and onto the figure of the only man on the baseball team he knows by name. Takashi Shirogane is by far the best catcher in the universe. According to Lance, he is also the finest piece of ass in the universe. According to the part of the student body that frequents the university’s gym, he is also Altea’s “Gym God”. His body is like a well-oiled machine. Even from all the way up on the stands Lance is mesmerized by the motions Shiro’s body makes while just throwing the ball back and forth with the Lions’ pitcher.

An annoying loud beep sounds from the speakers behind Lance and the announcer begins listing the names of the opposing team’s members. Every time their name is called, one of them steps forward into the crowd’s view. Annoying spots of gross purple line up on the field. When the Galran Soldiers’ captain Zarkon steps onto the field at last, a cheer erupts from the Galra fans. Lance can't contain the “Ugh” crawling up his throat. Nyma looks up from her phone at the offending sound and basically glares at Lance. Lance shrinks back in his seat. If this unlucky streak continues Nyma will hate him by the end of this date. If she doesn't already. 

A snort from his left side turns Lance's attention to the man sitting on the other side of him. Dressed in all red and black, he is obviously a Lions’ fan. But judging by his _insulting_ sneer and ugly-ass mullet, he is also obviously a dick without any taste.

“What’s your problem, mullet-man?” Lance spits.

With an amused twinkle in his eyes mullet-face just shrugs and turns his attention to the game.

 

Lance >> Hunk 15:02

_I hate my life this is so borign,,_

_Not even a freakking miracle can save this d8 now_

Lance’s stomach grumbles. He spent his last five dollars on a big-ass soda for Nyma and couldn’t even buy himself something to eat. He internally chastises himself for not taking the delicious magdalenas Hunk offered him this morning with him. He even made Lance’s favorite. Lance makes a mental note to appreciate his best friend and roommate more in the future. Maybe even listen to him more. Hunk had told him to forget about Nyma after she had rejected him the first three times, but Lance was stupid, as always, and had thought that somehow he would be able to woo Nyma if only he put enough effort in it. Now he had gotten a date after so many tries, but it was _not_ going well. At all.

 

Lance >> Hunk 15:04

_im so hungryyyyyy :’((((((((((((( wanna bake somthg for me when i get bck home?_

_I think imma need liek two pints of chocomint icecream to get ova this…._

 

Hunk >> Lance 15:04

_That bad?_

 

Lance >> Hunk 15:05

_ya_

 

Lance’s stomach growls again. It's pretty surprising that Nyma hasn't noticed yet and shot him another one of her death glares. Lance glances over at her, but Nyma is just sipping her soda and staring at her phone. In a moment of utter boredom and disappointment Lance turns his head to the left and is met with the sight of mullet-man shoving popcorn into his mouth while staring towards the field with utter concentration.

An idea forms in Lance’s head. Mullet-man isn't even looking at his popcorn… It’s not like he would notice if a little bit of it went missing from his popcorn bucket and mysteriously ended up in Lance’s growling stomach.

Lance imagines how good that popcorn would feel in his mouth. The buttery flakes crunching under his teeth. Traces of the butter left on his hands, begging him to put his hands to his mouth…

Lance can't help himself. Maybe it is a sad, new low point for him. Whatever. Mullet-man didn’t even notice the theft. He was too busy watching the game to pay any attention to Lance. What a loser. 

After that first bite of buttery goodness Lance can't stop anymore. Time after time his hand dashes into mullet-man’s popcorn bucket and time after time his theft goes undetected. 

In hindsight maybe it was a little mistake when Lance left his guard down while stealing popcorn.

His hand wanders into the popcorn bucket once again and is met with a soft and cold resistance. Curious as to what had stopped his hand Lance looks up only to find outraged gray eyes staring right at him.

“What the hell man!”

If mullet-man wasn’t kind of insulting Lance in this very moment, Lance would have to admit that mullet-man’s voice is kind of hot. Lance swallows loudly. There are two options for him now:

  1. Act as if it's totally normal to eat a stranger’s popcorn



     or

  1. Apologize to the mullet



The day Lance apologises to this man will be the day the world ends. With feigned disinterest Lance leans back in his seat and forces his eyes towards the field. 

“Whatever, mullet.”

Lance could swear he sees mullet-man blushing in the corner of his eyes. 

 

\-------

 

Lance doesn't do the mistake to grab any more popcorn from mullet-man after the incident. The memory of his cold hands fills Lance’s mind. How can a person have hands that cold?

Lance feels the inexplicable urge to take mullet-man’s soft, cold hands into his own and warm them up. The contrast between his own tanned hands and the other man’s pale ones, would please Lance’s aesthetic tastes. Lance studies the other man with a newly awakened interest. Mullet-man is once again staring towards the field and that leaves Lance with the opportunity to study his face from the side. His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration and underneath them his eyes are focused on the far-away outlines of baseball players. His nose is outrageously cute and his lips… His lips are chapped and by the looks of it they will stay chapped for a long time. If mullet-man doesn't get rid of his bad habit of chewing on his lips, he will never have such cute and kissable lips as Lance does. Although, Lance has to admit that the chapped lips kind of look good on mullet-man. And, in their own way, they are also oddly kissable.

Lance clears his throat and looks away again. He's here on a date with Nyma, not to look at strangers with unfortunate hair styles and wonder about how it would feel to hold hands and kiss said strangers.

Feeling guilty, Lance looks back over at Nyma. But the guilt quickly vanishes. Nyma is still only paying attention to her phone. Curious as to what exactly could hold Nyma’s attention for this long, Lance leans over to look at her screen.

She's playing candy crush. 

Wow.

Nyma looks up at Lance with cold eyes. 

“Do you mind, Lance?”

Lance looks at her with questioning eyes. 

“Personal space,” Nyma says while sweeping her arm from her chair's arm upwards and roughly pushing Lance back.

 

Lance >> Hunk 15:58

_Worst. Date. EVER_

 

Hunk >> Lance 16:00

_I’m making the batter now._

Lance >> Hunk 16:00

_< 3_

 

The loud sound announcing a break may have made Lance jump and squeak embarrassingly loud, but it came heaven-sent. Now is Lance’s chance to invent some excuse and just go home. Sweet, sweet Hunk is already at home and baking some edible love for Lance and, to be honest, this game isn't even that fun to watch.

Lance likes the games where the Altean Lions destroy their enemies. He likes it when his team is already obviously winning by halftime and Lance can shout obscenities at the opponents without being afraid that his team will be the one losing. He does not like it when the Lions have to fight for every point. He does not like it when the opposing team keeps catching up to the Lions’ score. And he likes it even less when said team is obviously cheating to do so. Lions were getting injured all around the field. And they certainly weren’t injuring themselves. Lance can feel the annoyance and irritation rising on the stands. The game feels ominously dangerous.

But there is nothing a good cheerleading team with an awesome routine can’t fix. After only a few acrobatic tricks and quite a lot of offensive gestures from their mascot directed to the Galran Soldiers, all Lions’ fans are back to their cheerful selves.

Soon enough the television screens in the stadium show past Kiss Cam footage and a cheesy love song blasts from the speakers behind Lance. The crowd goes wild.

Lance had always loved the noble tradition of choosing a random couple and asking them to kiss each other while everyone was watching. In short: Lance loves the Kiss Cam.

So Lance decides to at least wait until the Kiss Cam is over. He still has to think of an excuse for Nyma anyways. Maybe something like Hunk had found rats in their kitchen. Something that would make him heroic for ditching Nyma and running to aid his poor friend and yet would still allow him to get the hell out of this stadium. 

A small woman with pale, blond hair appears on the screen and next to her a freaking bodybuilder takes up like three quarters of the screen. The bodybuilder goes red as a tomato while the petite blonde looks up at him. Slowly and softly she pecks him on the lips. It lasts at most one second and when she sits back in her seat she's just as red as her partner. The bodybuilder is left staring at her in awe. Everyone claps.

The next two couples chosen by the Kiss Cam refuse to kiss. One of the men even holds up a sign saying “Sister!” and points it at the girl next to him.

Next the Kiss Cam shows two ladies who were already kissing each other even before the Kiss Cam chose them. The crowd goes crazy. Everyone claps and the lady sitting in front of Lance even lets out a whistle so loud Lance is sure he will have trouble hearing for the next few days. He is also very jealous. He had tried to whistle like that about a million times and yet he just couldn’t get the hang of it. Inspired by the lady’s ability Lance shoves his fingers in his mouth and blows. Nothing happens. But now his fingers are coated in saliva. Great. 

For a moment Lance can't understand why he is looking at himself on the screen now. For a second he just sits there and stares at himself staring right back at him and then it finally clicks. He and Nyma are on the Kiss Cam. They are supposed to kiss! Lance grabs her shoulder and shakes her. 

“Holy shit Nyma we’re on the Kiss Cam.”

Nyma looks up from her phone. She looks at Lance. She looks at the screen showing her and Lance surrounded by a border of pink hearts. She looks back at Lance.

“Ew.” 

She looks back down to her phone. 

Okay. _Now_ , this is officially the worst date in the history of all dates. Lance will never, ever, forget this moment. Trying to mask his disappointment Lance looks at the camera and scratches his ear while smiling sheepishly into the camera.

Everyone lets out a short “Aww” and Lance prepares himself to watch the next happy couple kiss on screen. But then a light tapping on his left shoulder catches his attention. 

Confused, Lance turns to mullet-man who is watching him with one of his eyebrows provocatively raised.

When Lance doesn't react, annoyance creeps into mullet-man’s face.

“Dude, either kiss me or don’t.”

Lance wasn’t going to be asked twice.

He leans towards the ridiculously attractive mullet-man and then, finally, their lips touch.

It is heaven.

Boy do those chapped lips feel good. The stranger’s tongue slips into Lance’s mouth and he loses all self-control. The kiss is desperate and fast paced. It's like Lance and the mysterious mullet-stranger had been meant to be kissing each other for years. Like tension kept bottled for decades has finally been let out. It is the best kiss Lance has ever had.

Slowly he lifts his hands and cups the other man’s head in them. Where Lance is burning hot, he is ice cold. While Lance rubs lazy circles into the stranger’s skin with his thumbs, the kiss slows down. They have all the time in the world to kiss. And Lance will be sure to keep kissing this boy. One kiss a day minimum. Lance will never be able to enjoy kissing someone else again because no one will ever be able to top what he is feeling right now.

The stranger sighs into Lance’s mouth and the boy can feel himself unravel. Lance can feel the other man relaxing into his arms and he vaguely starts hearing the cheers erupting around them.

Lance can feel himself slipping back into reality even though he doesn't want to. What if the other man didn’t enjoy kissing Lance as much as Lance had enjoyed kissing him? What if he would never look at Lance again? What if this was just a one time Kiss Cam deal? What if t- 

Lance’s worrying is very abruptly interrupted by a cold wetness sliding down the back of his head and his back. He lets go of the stranger with a surprised yelp. Nyma had showered him in her drink. Awesome. His hair is sticky and gross and his favorite blue button down shirt is clinging to his back. Most importantly, Nyma just ruined the end of the most perfect kiss ever™. 

The crowd laughs as Nyma throws the now-empty cup to the ground with an unhealthy aggression and storms off, leaving Lance and the best kisser on planet Earth alone. The good part about this is that now Lance won't have to think of an excuse to run away. In fact, he kind of wants to stay. The bad part about this is that Lance is now thrown back into his loop of self-doubt. So he actually kind of still wants to run away; even if his reasons for doing so are now entirely different.

Lance opened his mouth and, very eloquently, says “Hughf.”

Before the perfect mullet-man can answer him, Lance jumps up from his seat.

“I – uhm – I think I should go clean up. Maybe. I’m all like sticky and stuff. So like. See you later,” his voice embarrassingly shoots upwards making his last sentence seem more like a question.

Lance awkwardly wrestles his lanky body around the stranger’s slim legs. Why is there so little space between seat rows in this baseball stadium? Why does Lance have to practically climb over mullet-man to get to a bathroom? And also why is the dude wearing skinny jeans? Lance was going to faint. Or die. Maybe just both. Before he can chicken out, Lance turns back around to the mullet-man. He is watching Lance like he had been watching the field before. It seems like he is paying attention to Lance with his entire being. The intensity of his gaze kind of intimidates Lance.

“I just- I wanted to- I mean-,” Lance stops himself and takes a big, shaky breath. “Nice kiss dude.”

Lance runs off.

 

\-------

 

Oh God.

“Nice kiss dude?” Lance asks himself once he is in the front of a small mirror in an employee’s bathroom. He hadn’t wanted to run into any other people in the bathroom. Lance needs a bit of alone time. He needs to ground himself. He needs time to think about that kiss. He needs to think about those wonderful, chapped lips again and the way they felt when they grazed his own lips. The way the stranger’s tongue had felt in his mouth and the way his head fit perfectly into Lance’s cupped hands and about his body relaxing against Lance’s and about what Lance would do if he could tou-

No. Breathing. Lance needs to think about breathing. Calmly.

“Why did I say that?” Lance asks his reflection again. If the other boy hadn’t already been ready to bolt after the kiss, he certainly will be ready to now after Lance’s parting words. 

With a resigned sigh Lance holds his hands under the water coming out of the faucet and then splashes it onto his face. He drags his hands down his face and stares at the mirror. Now is definitely the time for a pep talk.

“Okay Lance,” he starts. “Well that was a super weird date. But hey no big loss! Because apparently you don’t even like Nyma anymore.” Lance gives himself a thumbs-up. “Now there is someone else you like though. And that man is waiting right up there.” He points up at the ceiling, where said man is most probably _not_ waiting anymore. However, the point of a pep talk is not to point out that you have lost your potential soulmate because you’re an idiot. So Lance clears his throat and just pretends. 

“He is waiting there. For you. So you need to go back up there. Go back and then take his ridiculously cold hand in yours and get out of this overfilled stadium and maybe get a milkshake or something. Getting a milkshake counts as an acceptable first date. Even if mullet-man will have to pay,” Lance says, remembering that he just spent his last cash on a drink that was poured down his shirt. “And then after the date you can start kissing him. You can cradle his head in your hands again and he will put his hands in your hair and then you can touch that oddly hot mullet of his and-“

Lance’s pep talk, which had quickly turned into an out loud fantasizing monologue, is interrupted by Shakira. _Suerte_  starts playing from his phone, announcing that someone is calling Lance. Sure enough a picture of Hunk holding up a cake shaped like a lion lights up his screen. Lance picks up and holds his phone to his ear.

“Hunk? What’s going on?”

“Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Lance listen I’m so sorry to interrupt your date and like I swear I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t _absolutely_ necessary. Also can I just say right now what happened was definitely not my fault at all. Okay maybe a little bit. It was a lot bit my fault actu-“

“Hunk,” Lance interrupts him. “Please just tell me what’s going on.”

Silence fills the line and Lance almost asks Hunk whether he's still on the phone before Hunk finally talks.

 

“Our kitchen is on fire. Like literally.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay sooooo...  
> This was my first fic so I hope whoever read this enjoyed it and also if there's any mistakes (because I'm sure there's like a million) pls feel free to point them out!  
> Also if any of you have any helpful tips or pointers or criticism go ahead :)
> 
> And this chapter was based on this: http://sizvideos.com/post/107983291917/video 
> 
> Btw I don't know shit about baseball so again if there's any mistakes about that pls tell me :)
> 
> Oh man this is so embarrassing (._.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is an idiot and Hunk is amazing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who isn't good at thinking of chapter titles and summaries??
> 
> (Hint: It's meee)

As soon as Hunk hangs up, Lance runs out of the stadium and to his bicycle. Nyma’s bicycle is still standing next to his and Lance briefly considers throwing it to the ground, but then decides that he is not petty enough to get such a childish revenge. Lance would get his revenge, that much is obvious, but he would get it somewhere with at least one hundred witnesses. It would be fabulous. And after that awesome revenge the mulleted stranger who has just given Lance the best kiss of his life would jump into his arms. And then they would kiss. Because kissing him was amazing.

Lance feels bad leaving mullet-man here by himself, but if he is still waiting now then he should be able to wait a bit more until Lance has saved Hunk from an imminent fiery death. Lance will come back to the stadium as a hero and then tell Hunk to explain everything to mullet-man on the phone because who would actually believe what had forced Lance to leave the man? 

Driven by the wish to come back as soon as possible to get another kiss - and maybe also a bit by the fact that there is a fire in Lance and Hunk’s shared dorm suite - Lance bikes back home in under ten minutes. Already breathing heavily, he runs up the stairs to the third floor instead of taking the annoyingly slow elevator.

When Lance arrives in front of the suite the door is wide open and Lance can hear a girl’s laughter from inside. With heavy footsteps Lance approaches his roommate who is very obviously flirting with a female firefighter. Lance clears his throat loudly and the girl jumps. She turns around and – wow – Lance can definitely see why Hunk is flirting with her. She is beautiful. Her firefighter suit does not do a good job in hiding her awesome muscles and Lance’s eyes quickly fall on a name-tag on her _very_ flattering uniform. There, in a pretty cursive font, the name ‘Shay’ is written.

Well, as pretty as Shay is and as much as Lance likes Hunk actively flirting with her, Lance has some more urgent matters to attend to than congratulating Hunk on making the best of the situation.

“Huuuuunk,” Lance whines, “What happened to our kitcheeeeen?”

Said kitchen doesn’t really look much like a kitchen anymore. It looks more like a winter wonderland. For a second Lance is convinced that it must have snowed in their kitchen, but then he notices the bulky fire extinguisher on the floor.

Surprisingly, it’s not Hunk who answers, but Shay. “It seems like you guys had a pretty old and overused oven,” she says. Shay shoots an accusatory look at Hunk and he slinks back sheepishly, which does little to hide his big form but looks adorable nonetheless.

“I was making the magdalenas for you and I swear I walked out for a _second_ and when I came back the kitchen was just on fire,” Hunk says.

Lance groans. Damn magdalenas. Actually, damn Nyma for ignoring him and making him want some comfort food and thus basically setting their kitchen on fire.

“Well,” Shay says, leading Lance’s attention back to her. She’s scribbling something on a piece of paper and hands it to Hunk with a big grin on her face. “I have to go now, but feel free to call me if you have any other… emergencies.” She winks at Hunk and nods at Lance before walking out of their door.

For a few seconds both men stand next to each other in silence. Lance looking at Hunk in wonder and amazement and Hunk studying the swirly hand-writing on the note Shay just gave him with a look that says that he is already big time crushing on the fire fighter.

“Dude, please tell me you will text her, call her, date her, marry her, and never let go of her muscular arms,” Lance says.

“I think that fire is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Hunk sighs. “Excuse me while I go light my bedroom on fire so she can come back immediately. Would it be too much to propose to her with a fire show?”

“Meh I don’t know about that, my friend.” Lance plops down on their couch with a big sigh. At least only their kitchen was burned down and not their entire dorm suite. “But I do know that that fire was like the worst thing that ever happened to _me_.”

Hunk’s face immediately turns worried. “Oh no. And I don’t even have magdalenas to cheer you up.” Hunk dramatically puts his face into his hands and sits down on the couch next to Lance. “What happened?” he asks.

Lance gives him a quick rundown of his dire situation and when he’s done Hunk starts laughing. He starts laughing and he _does not stop laughing_.

“Haha- Lance you are-“ He takes a deep breath and tries to get himself under control. He’s not successful. “You are the- the absolute b-best. You- you just went and- made out with some like random dude on the- KISS CAM!” Hunk doubles over and continues laughing like a madman.

Lance gently shoves him. “Thanks babe, you’re being like _super_ supportive right now.”

“Aww, Lance,” Hunk says, “You know I don’t mean it like that.” And Lance does know that. “You gotta admit it’s kind of _really_ funny.”

This is one of the many reasons why Hunk and Lance are best friends. Hunk always manages to make Lance smile. Whenever Lance does something embarrassing and tries to beat himself up over it, Hunk twists around the situation and makes Lance proud of himself for having the courage to do something humiliating. Whenever Lance is close to giving up, Hunk builds him back up and gives him reasons to go on. Whenever Lance gets so homesick that he barely musters up the will to get out of bed, Hunk is waiting with a ton of magdalenas and a batch of strength and love for Lance.

And now in this situation where Lance is kind of really freaking out, Hunk manages to make him smile.

“Seriously man I would pay _money_ to see you do that. And you know I barely have any money. Nyma’s face was probably _hilarious_.” Hunk makes a grimace to prove his point and Lance snorts. “Takes a lot of swag to do something like that.” Hunk playfully shoves Lance and Lance swears he can see pride in the other man’s eyes. “So when are you meeting the mysterious stranger again?” Hunk asks.

“Probably never,” Lance says and slides down the couch until he’s sitting on the floor and only his head rests on the couch.

“Wait, you didn’t get his number?” Hunk asks incredulous.

Lance shakes his head no. “I don’t even know his name.”

Hunk makes an annoyed noise and stands up. “Then what the hell are you doing still wasting time here?!” He takes Lance’s hands and pulls him up with brute strength.

“Hunk I appreciate it. Really I do. But let’s be honest for a second here.” Hunk stops in the middle of pulling Lance to the door and looks at him disbelievingly.

“Lance. Please tell me you’re not thinking about leaving that cutie by himself.”

“I’m just saying, like what if he just wanted a kiss? I mean we don’t even know each other! Why would a hot stranger like him want to date me? I was literally humiliated to the maximum in front of him. Remember that Nyma dumped her soda on me? Because I sure _do_ remember.”

Hunk lets out a small and frustrated yell. Then he takes Lance’s face in his hands and looks him straight in the eyes. He’s so close Lance can’t even separate his two eyes. He looks like a very cute but also very stressed one-eyed alien.

“Listen to me Lance. You had a hot make out session with a stranger while you were both on the kiss cam. There is no way the desire to kiss wasn’t mutual. No one would do that just for fun. Mullet-man probably had to gather up a lot of courage to ask you to kiss him out of the blue and frankly I think it’s a damn _shame_ that you just left without even asking him what his name is! Now, you _will_ go out there and get back to the stadium, sprint up to your seats, ask him what his name and phone number is and continue making out with him. Understood?”

Hunk has somehow pushed Lance out of their suite and is now staring at him with an accusatory finger lifted in the air.

Lance nods. “Got it.”

Hunk shuts the door in his face.

 

\-------

 

Even though Lance’s legs are still protesting from the ride home and his bad decision to take the stairs instead of the elevator, Lance swings himself back on his bike and starts pedaling back to the stadium. 

When Lance finally gets there, he is met by everyone else leaving. Surprised he checks the clock on his phone. It is definitely not time for the game to be over yet. Lance grabs the arms of the guy closest to him and effectively stops him.

The man looks vaguely familiar, but Lance can’t figure out just where he has seen this man before.

“What happened? Why is everyone leaving?” Lance asks.

The other man just shrugs. “Well no one really knows any details but apparently a player was badly injured during half time. It happened in the lockers so nobody here really saw anything, but if you ask me-“ the man leans towards Lance and lowers his voice until it is merely a whisper- “it was probably one of them Galran Soldiers hurting one of our players.”

Lance stares at the stranger with budding fear inside of him. His thoughts immediately jump to the only player he knows. Takashi Shirogane is the Altean Lions’ best asset and also the major reason why the Lions were still getting more and more points each inning. If the Galran Soldiers had really hurt one of the Lions’ players, Shiro would have been the one they would target.

“I mean think about it,” the other man continues, “if it were just a normal injury the game would still be on as if nothing had happened. You can’t really chase everyone out of the stadium because someone got a scratch.” The man pauses and looks back at the emptying stadium behind him. “Something major must have happened.”

With a resigned sigh the man claps Lance on his shoulder and starts walking away again. Suddenly Lance remembers why he’s back here in the first place.

“Wait!” He calls after the man.

The man stops and Lance lightly jogs to him.

“Ehm have you by any chance seen a guy dressed in all red and black?”

The other man laughs in response. He points in a circle around himself.

“Are you serious, dude?”

The man walks away again and Lance looks around unhappily. Just by looking once, he already finds five guys all wearing red and black ensembles. Duh. It’s one of the Altean Lions’ team colors and everyone likes the red and black combo since it looks badass. Of course Lance will not have any luck finding mullet-man with such a half-assed description.

“He has a mullet!” Lance yells out as a last effort. But the man he talked with just shakes his head and ignores Lance. And other people turn around to stare at him, but they aren’t really helpful either.

Lance knows that there are only two possible places mullet-man could be. He’s either weaving through the thick crowd getting out of the stadium, or he’s already long gone.

Lance hopes it’s the former and leans against the stadium walls surveying the mob of people leaving.

Lance stays there and waits until it starts getting dark and way too cold outside.

Lance knows it’s impossible, but he still hopes the mullet stranger walks out of those long-shut doors and into his arms.

It’s eleven at night when Hunk comes looking for him and takes him back home.

The mullet-man never showed up.

Lance should have known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like it's too short?? Again if you guys find any mistakes or have any criticism hmu :)
> 
> Also thank you for all the lovely comments on the previous chapter you guys are WAY too awesome!! I hope this lived up to your expectations and if not I'm really really sorry <3


	3. Operation KCSA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor baby Lance gets into a slump and back out of it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol guess who is back from the dead?  
> Spoiler alert: It's ME o(^◇^)o
> 
> ehm so anyhow sorry for making you guys wait for like a decade! But yeah stuff happened and basically I decided that I will not be writing this fic while I'm at uni and I'm only gonna work on it during the breaks. Which means that yay I will get to post a bunch of chapters during the next months or so, but also not yay after that I will be back to a mega hiatus :/

Sometimes Lance wishes that he could just ignore his emotions. Instead it’s almost impossible for him to forget about the aching hole where his heart should be.

Hunk tries his best to cheer him up, but he already has a lot of experience with Lance and he knows that what his friend needs the most right now is lots of love and lots of time to heal.

It takes Lance two weeks to get himself together enough to think about other things than one special stranger with a love for mullets, the color red, and chapped lips. Unfortunately, the things his brain decides to focus on instead are not helpful at all.

Lance often remembers Nyma. He knows that what happened with her was probably for the best. He even doubts that he would still want to get together with her after their date. But she had been a person he had wanted to have in his life for so long that it’s hard to forget the rejection she had given him.

On the rare occasions when he isn't thinking of mullet-man or Nyma, Lance’s thoughts fly to the disaster that happened at the baseball game. There are a million theories and rumors going around about what really happened to Shiro, the Altean Lions’ catcher. They range from self-inflicted injury to just an unfortunate accident to an intentional beating from Zarkon, a central player for the Galran Soldiers.

But even without all those theories, the fact remains that Shiro was very badly hurt. He would never be able to play baseball again. 

The few times when Lance leaves his and Hunk’s dorm suite, he always meets at least one group of students collecting donations to help Shiro pay for the best prosthetic arm money can buy. Rumors are that Allura is the one who organized all of that. Allura is basically campus royalty. Her father had been a very respected professor for Artificial Intelligence at Altea University before he died. She was also elected as Gym Goddess next to Shiro who had been the Gym God. And she was also super smart and super nice. Lance had asked her out several times and while she had always rejected him, he had never felt like an idiot afterwards.

Whenever Lance sees those students he makes sure to give them some of the money in his pockets. Even if it’s only a little he wants to help.

 

\--------

 

What really lifts Lance out of his low is, as always, Hunk.

On monday morning Lance gets out of his room to get ready for classes and finds Hunk sitting on a chair in front of his room. He’s holding a piece of cardboard with the word ‘Intervention’ written on it with marker.

“Good morning sunshine,” Hunk says. He stands up and basically shoves the cardboard sign into Lance’s face. “This is an intervention.”

Lance just grunts and flops down on the ground in response.

“In the last few weeks I have noticed a disturbing trend, my friend,” Hunk continues, “You are way too sad and that is just not the Lance I know and love. So I have constructed an intricate and very complicated plan to help you get back on your feet.”

Lance looks up with intrigue only to see Hunk smile smugly and turn around the piece of cardboard. On the other side he has written ‘Distract yourself by putting everything into studying’, which is slightly insulting because it’s not like Lance is getting bad grades or something like that. Lance has given up a lot just to be able to go to this school and he is certainly not wasting his time here by ignoring everything this university can teach him.

Sensing Lance’s opposition to the idea, Hunk scrambles to explain what he means.

“Listen Lance, I know you’re not doing badly or anything. The thing is that, well, I mean you’re really interested in astronomy right?” Lance nods. “Okay. So then I was thinking like if that’s something that you love and obviously enjoy, it could maybe help you if you pursue your passion for it instead of lying around and trying to ignore your feelings. So what I’m saying is - ehm – you should acknowledge that things are shitty right now, but you should also, like, focus on the good things you can do here and all the opportunities you have to do something really amazing. Which I know you can do because you’re one of the smartest, most awesomest people I have ever known and I don’t want to see you being sad anymore.”

Lance acts as if he’s thinking it over and lets Hunk squirm for a bit. He already knows what he has to do. Hunk is a smart man. Lance would be stupid to ignore his advice, especially since Hunk's advice has helped him so often in the last few years.

“So you think I should focus on my studies,” Lance says. 

Hunk nods enthusiastically.

“Alright. Well I guess I can try that,” Lance says and smiles at his friend.

 

\-------

 

Starting from that day, Lance gives his all at his classes. Whenever the professors ask something, his hand flies right up to answer the question. He challenges himself in his art classes and tries out different colors and techniques he never thought of before.

When Lance first decided to take an art class, he hadn’t thought that it would someday mean this much to him. In a way, he had only begun taking art because Nyma was there too, but Nyma had already dropped this class a long time ago and Lance had decided to stay. He had never regretted getting into art. And now, he can use it as a sort of outlet for that big weird mess that is occupying his thoughts. 

His sketchbook fills up with sketches of lion paws, schematic men with mullets and chapped lips, and, of course, his all-time favorite: star constellations.

Lance even starts going to the two lectures he signed up for that are recorded and that students can watch online if they want to. One of them is so utterly boring that Lance is proud of himself for just staying awake and the other one if weirdly interesting.

What Lance first notices when he walks into ‘Spaceship Maintenance 101’ is a man with a bright orange, super amazing moustache. It’s not like he can’t see that magnificent facial hair while looking at the videos of the lecture online, but somehow the real deal seems much more impressing. The man also notices Lance and excitedly waves him over to a seat in the first row of the classroom. The classroom is way too big for the grand total of seven people actually sitting in it, but Lance can understand not choosing to come here when you can see everything the professor does online.

It’s a shame though that there aren’t more people coming here, considering what a sweetheart the professor seems to be. He introduces himself to Lance as Coran and then starts his lecture. The professor’s name seems very familiar to Lance, but he can’t quite figure out from where he knows this name and decides to just research it when he gets home. For the time being, Lance focuses on listening to Coran talk about the different parts of a spaceship and when and how they should be checked for malfunctions and cleaned. It seems like a very boring topic, but seeing Coran excitedly talk about it sparks Lance’s interest.

For the rest of the day, Coran’s class doesn’t really leave his thoughts. And Lance is really getting bothered by the way he just can’t figure out where he has seen that name before.

When he finally gets home that afternoon, the first thing Lance does is type “Coran Altea University” into the search bar on his computer. Several articles about the professor pop up. Lance only needs to read the title “Altean Professor’s team 'Voltron' wins Altean Space Program Competition for fourth year in a row” to understand why he knows the name.

“Oh my god,” he whispers to himself and an embarrassing little giggle escapes from his mouth.

Coran is one of the main reasons Lance decided to leave home and go to this university.

The thing that makes Altea University so special is one unique program it offers. It’s called the Altean Space Program. 

Every year a select few of professors - including Coran – gather their six best and brightest students to form a team. There are five teams in total and they compete for a chance to actually go on a space mission. A real space mission! With a rocket! And astronaut suits!! Being part of one of those teams has been Lance’s dream since forever. And now Lance has a shot at being chosen for one of the teams.

With newly found enthusiasm, Lance decides that it is time to commence operation “Kiss Coran’s Space Ass”.

 

\-------

 

Lance takes pride in being good at a lot of things. Studying, drawing, moisturizing, being hilarious, and also ass kissing. It’s only a matter of time until he has Coran wrapped around his finger.

Lance participates so much in his class that he’s probably talking about half of the time. He also starts staying there when the lecture ends and he always comes prepared with questions for Coran. If there’s one thing professors love, it’s students showing an interest in even the smallest parts of their academic field. Even if that academic field is basically how to be a space janitor.

Lance finally gets what he wants after about two weeks of giving his all for operation “Kiss Coran’s Space Ass”. After holding a lecture about the right way to clean healing-pods for 90 minutes, Coran sends his students home, but asks Lance specifically to stay for a minute. As soon as he hears those words, Lance is already freaking out. This is his shot at his dream. The time has finally come for Lance to show to the entire universe just what he is made of.

He’s so caught up in his fantasies of saving the universe and little alien beings hoisting him up in celebration that he almost misses Coran’s actual words.

“Lance, my boy, how would you feel about joining my team for the Altean Space Program this year?”

For a second it all seems too much for Lance. A few weeks ago he would never have guessed that he would actually be chosen for this. And now here he is. The opportunity of his lifetime is being handed to him on a silver platter and suddenly Lance doesn’t know anymore whether he really has what it takes.

“Sir, are you sure I am the right choice for this?”

Lance regrets his question as soon as it slips out of his traitorous mouth. His biggest weakness had always been his self-doubt, but most of the time he’s able to keep it inside of him. The only people who now about this side of him are his family and Hunk. It’s not really a trait Lance is proud of and he most definitely doesn’t want other people to pity him for it. But Coran’s gaze tells him that the man understands exactly how Lance feels right now. 

“Come with me boy,” Coran says.

Lance obediently follows Coran until they are standing in his office. The room is bright and clean, just as one would expect from Coran. Everything in it seems to be work-related except for one glass cabinet full of pictures and little trinkets. Lance is immediately drawn to it and inches closer to it so that he can inspect everything inside. There’s recent pictures featuring the groups Coran has mentored in the Altean Space Program up until now and also old pictures of a young Coran next to a tall man with broad shoulders and an even broader smile. His face looks very similar to Allura’s, but before Lance can really think about that fact Coran clears his throat from behind Lance. 

“I knew you’d be right for this,” Coran says. “You have an uncanny ability to know what is really important.” Coran nods towards the cabinet as if that proves his point and then continues talking. “Lance, there are a lot of things I look for when I am choosing students to participate in my team. I am very picky about who I choose and, I think it’s right to say, so far I have always picked the right people.”

“You see, Lance, only being able to get good grades will not allow anyone to be a part of my team.”

“Then why have you-“ 

“I have chosen you, Lance,” Coran interrupts him, “because you are _not_ someone who is merely getting good grades. You are passionate about this program and I knew that right from the moment you began to suck up to me.”

Embarrassed to have been caught, Lance averts his eyes.

“You don’t give up easily. Even if you don’t think very highly of yourself, you still take risks that could take you closer to your goal. And also, as I’ve said already, you know what is really important in this life. You care a lot about the people around you, whether it is friends, family, or even strangers. You are a very caring person, and I think I could consider myself very lucky if I had someone like you on my team. So what do you say? Will you become a part of team Voltron?” 

This time Lance doesn’t even have to think about it.

“Yes Sir.”

 

\-------

 

Lance can barely contain his excitement on the way home.

After Lance had accepted to become a part of Coran’s team, the professor had told him that he was actually the fourth recruit that had accepted his offer. He also said that he had found the perfect students for the remaining two spots on the team, but they had yet to accept. However, he had not said anything about who any of those people were.

Coran had told Lance that they would all meet each other at their first team meeting in four days.

Lance already knows that he will be having trouble falling asleep for the rest of the week. His brain is already full with possible scenarios picturing who the other members of team Voltron will be and how he will fit into the group.

The best case scenario would be Lance surrounded by smart, but shy people who immediately look up to him. Lance would take on a sort of leader role and act as a mentor to his, only slightly less intelligent and charming, team members. 

The likelier, worst case scenario would be Lance surrounded by a bunch of students smarter and more mature and confident than him. Here, Lance would immediately feel overwhelmed and become to the worst team member. First, everyone would get annoyed by him and his lack of knowledge and expertise that his team needed. And then that annoyance would build up until it finally burst in an explosion of hate. They would kick him out of the team and then, because they would all be amazing people, they would still win the competition without Lance and they would go to space and leave him behind to deal with his failure alone.

A cold sense of dread settles deep in Lance's stomach and he spends a minute standing before the suite door and trying to control his erratic breathing before he finally feels ready to step through it. 

When Lance walks though the door, he is welcomed by the sweet smell of blueberry muffins.

Lance walks up behind Hunk who is filling batter into another muffin form. 

“What are the bluesies for?” Lance asks.

Hunk startles and turns around to face Lance. As soon as he sees him, Hunk’s face lights up.

“Well I have something to tell you,” Hunk says. “I didn’t know whether I should because of reasons but then I decided that I have to tell you! So here I am baking celebratory blueberry muffins!”

“You’re not going to believe this, but I have something to celebrate too,” Lance says. He can already see the expression Hunk will make when Lance tells him about Coran and his offer to become a part of his team. Hunk knows that this is a really big thing for Lance. And Hunk might even be able to miraculously blow some of Lance's self-doubt away.

“Okay you go first,” Hunk says.

“No way. You go first.”

“No you.”

“No you.”

“This isn’t going anywhere, Lance.”

“No you.” 

“Okay I will just pretend you didn’t say that and stick to my belief that you are actually not an immensely annoying person,” Hunk says. “Now tell me what you have to celebrate.”

“How about we both go at the same time,” Lance suggests. 

Hunk nods at his idea and starts counting down from three.

“Three, two, one,” both boys fall silent and wait for the other one to say something.

“Okay this won’t work Hunk,” Lance says.

Thankfully Hunk knows exactly how to solve this problem.

“Let’s just both write it down and give each other our papers.”

Lance immediately rummages through his bag and triumphantly rips out two paper pieces from his notebook and, after some more digging, finds two pens.

Then he writes down the good news for Hunk.

The other boy does the same and then they both open their papers.

“You got into the Space Program?” Hunk asks.

“You got into the Space Program?” Lance asks at the same time.

Lance’s heart is about to explode from joy. Hunk got into the Space Program too which means that Lance will not be alone which means that everything will be way much easier for Lance.

“Ohmygod whose team are you on?” Lance asks.

“Coran asked me. What about you?” Hunk answers.

“Impossible!” Lance hugs Hunk as hard as he can. “We’re both on team Voltron! This is going to be so amazing! Man, I am so glad I accepted Coran’s offer.”

“Wait you were thinking about saying no?” Hunk asks incredulously. “This is what you’ve been waiting for, Lance. This is _literally_ the one reason why you moved so far away from home and came here. How could you think about saying no?”

Lance just waves his friend’s worry aside.

“It’s all good now Hunky, don’t worry,” Lance says. “Now, let’s start this blueberry muffins party.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so originally this chapter actually goes on and gets much longer, but I decided to split the next chapter from this because I feel like it's good that way? Idk  
> But good news! You guys won't have to wait a long time for the next chapter because it's already almost done (~‾▿‾)~


	4. Team Voltron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets team Voltron for the first time and with them an unexpected (haha yeah right) stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit guys here you go I am now dead. Also sorry this took so long I will never again make promises about updating soon and also I have accepted the fact that this fic will take years to finish so whatevs

Four days later it’s finally time for Lance and Hunk to officially meet the rest of their team.

The only problem is that both boys were too exited to actually get some sleep the day before, so they had slept through their alarms. Hunk had been the first one to wake up and after rudely yelling at Lance to get his butt out of bed, they had begun running to the conference room Coran had booked for the team.

“Damn it, Lance, this is all your fault,” Hunk says.

“My fault?” Lance shrieks, “How is this _my_ fault?”

“Well you got too excited and then you made _me_ excited and then I couldn’t sleep and then I couldn’t wake up and now we’re half an hour late!”

“Whatever. We’re here,” Lance says and knocks on the door before he can change his mind.

Without waiting for an answer, Lance opens the door and immediately starts apologizing.

“Professor Coran we are so sorry for being late this is all my fau-“

Lance is cut short by the scene unfolding before him.

 

Sitting right there are the other members of team Voltron.

Coran is situated at the far end of the table and the other members are spread out along the table’s sides.

There’s not only one, but all two of the gym gods sitting right there facing each other. Allura looks as awesome as always and Shiro looks like a character right out of an action movie with his new prosthetic arm.

Next to Shiro is someone who literally looks fourteen years old. They’re looking at their phone and typing furiously. They don’t even look up at the two newcomers.

And sitting next to that person is that special someone who took Lance’s words right out from underneath him. Sitting _right there_ is someone who Lance was sure he would never get to see again.

 

Mullet Man.

 

Lance isn’t sure he still knows how to breathe. In fact, the only thing he seems to remember knowing how to do is stand there like he’s frozen. What finally brings him back to the situation at hand is Hunks soft gasp of realization and the whispered “Ohmygodit’smulletman” that follows it. Lance turns to his best friend and opens his mouth to say that he can’t do this, but the words don’t come out. Instead, Coran speaks up.

“It’s quite alright, Lance. Now boys, why don’t you take a seat and let us start?”

While Lance just keeps standing there and nodding, Hunk wastes no time basically sprinting over to the free seat right next to Allura. Lance is left with only one possible free seat and that seat is next to his traitorous friend and, coincidentally, right in front of mullet-man.

If he could, Lance would just walk right out of that room and never get back inside of it, but he can’t. He cannot ruin his shot of being a part of the Altean Space Program because of a hot stranger who he has been fantasizing about meeting again. Even if just by looking at him Lance’s mouth itches with the memory of chapped lips.

Lance mechanically walks over to the chair right across from mullet-man and sits down while trying not to think too much about what consequences the presence of his soulmate in team Voltron will have on his wellbeing. When he shyly looks up to steal another glimpse of the stranger, he is met with one hell of a glare. The hot stranger is burning with rage and Lance is sure everyone in the room can feel it.

Well, everyone except for Coran who just starts the meeting as if Lance’s life isn’t being turned upside down in this very second.

“Now that everyone is here and team Voltron is finally complete I will begin with this little meeting. You all probably now everything about the Altea University Space Program already, but I’ll explain it again so that we’re all on the same page.”

“Our university is the only one on the entire planet that gives its students the wonderful opportunity of being part of a space mission once a year. The program is basically a competition. Six professors have the privilege to gather six students they think are most suited for a mission like this and then they have to act as an advisor to said group while the students face challenges constructed to test how you will perform under pressure.”

“Each professor has different ways to choose students. I try to find people who complement each other in both personality and ability. Each and every one of you has something that I believe is essential to our team.” 

“And speaking of team, I firmly believe that what we need to overcome the challenges that we will be facing is excellent teamwork. That is why I will begin our training sessions with team building exercises starting right now. Since most of you don’t know each other yet, I want everyone to introduce themselves one after the other. To make this a bit more interesting, I will tell each of you why I chose you to be a part of team Voltron. I will begin.”

“I am Coran. I am forty-five years old and I am a professor at this university. While I do expect all of you to treat me respectfully, I want to make clear that our relationship has grown from a professor-student relation to an advisor-team member relation. That means that I want you to think of me as a part of team Voltron instead of as a distanced authority figure. So feel free to come to me with anything that weighs on your mind. Nothing you say or do as a part of team Voltron will affect your grades in my classes in any way.”

After Coran is done, he mentions to Allura and she begins introducing herself.

 

“My name is Allura. I am twenty-four years old. I am now in my fifth year here and last year I took a break from my studies because of-“ Allura stops for a second to mull over her next words. “Well because of personal reasons.” She quickly glances at Coran who is looking at her fondly and nods at her to go on. “I lost someone who was very close to me and I needed time and space to cope with that loss. Academically I am mostly interested in ancient extraterrestrial cultures and diplomacy. I also take part in a leadership program for honors students. Oh, and I am a part of the extracurricular science group we have here at Altea University. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you Coran. Coran had asked me last year already to be a part of his team, but I had to turn him down. I want to thank you for allowing me a chance to take this opportunity again.”

Coran waves it off nonchalantly. “Allura if I could I would have you on my team every year. I think your excellent communication and problem resolution skills are a very valuable asset to this team and I am very happy that you have decided to join us this year. I know it is still hard for you sometimes, but I hope you will be able to trust me and all of your teammates to help you whenever you need help.”

Allura nods and blinks quickly several times before turning to her left and looking at Hunk expectantly.

 

“Guess it’s my turn now,” Hunk says, “I am Hunk Garett and I’m twenty-one. I study mechanics and physics. Oh, and I also study space nutrition. I like to experiment with food a lot so if any of you ever want to try something new, feel free to drop by at Lance’s and my dorm suite.”

Lance had tried Hunk’s experimental ‘food’ only twice in his life. It was disgusting both times, so he seriously hopes that none of his new teammates actually think it’s a good idea to try it. Once Hunk made a weirdly sticky, green goo and asked Lance to try it. It had tasted like the soles of a worn-out shoe. Lance had thrown up four times after that. He still has trouble eating green food.

“Also I love baking more than anything else, so again if you ever want something you’re always welcome to knock on my door. Actually I brought something for you guys.” Hunk leans down and takes a plastic box full of blueberry muffins out of his bag. “They’re blueberry muffins, which are my favorite.”

Even though Lance has been stuffing himself with celebratory blueberry muffins for the last few days, he still can’t resist them. His hand shoots out lightning quick and snatches one of the muffins and also catches the attention of every person sitting around the table in the room.

Lance feels his face getting really hot really quickly and shrinks down in his seat when he sees mullet man looking at him with a disgusted expression.

“What? They’re delicious,” Lance weakly defends himself.

“Thanks Lance,” Hunks chirps. He seems oblivious to his friend’s awkward situation and continues talking. “Lance here is my flat mate and best friend ever and he’s also very nice and romantic and he also likes mul-“

Lance slaps his hand over Hunk’s mouth before his friend can finish the word. At the head of the table, Coran laughs heartily.

“Oh my, Lance you look horrified,” Coran says. “Now Hunk, I chose you because I immediately knew when I met you that you are a wonderful and very gentle person. You do everything you can for the people you love, even if it doesn’t help you. I hope you will grow to think of all of your teammates as people you love and I hope that you will teach them how to love as fiercely as you do. Now it’s your turn, Lance.”

 

Lance swallows a tiny bite of blueberry muffins and tries to focus on the soothing warmth that the familiar taste spreads in his body.

“My name is Lance McClain and I’m twenty-one years old. I am in my third year here at Altea University, just like Hunk, and I study astronomy, astronautics, and art. Which all coincidentally start with the letter A, which I just noticed right now.” Lance laughs by himself and quickly continues talking to hide his embarrassment. “I also take Spanish classes because they help me feel like I’m actually not that far away from home. What else? Well, I love Hunk’s food. There’s not really anything I can do as well as Hunk can bake. But I still hope that I can be useful to this team. I have wanted a chance to be a part of the Altean Space Program for a long time and I will give my everything to help this team become successful.”

“Lance, when you don’t try too hard to be funny, you actually are pretty funny. I hope that you can cheer up your teammates when they need some cheering up. But that is not the only reason why I chose you to be a part of Voltron. You care about a lot of little details, and while that probably becomes too much sometimes in your life, it is also a very good trait. You notice things that other people never see, and you care for those things. You have a lot of space in your heart and I hope you can fill it with your teammates and with the little details about them that no one else notices. You are a very caring person who would never willingly abandon a person you hold dear, and I admire that about you.”  
Mullet Man actually snorts and the warmth that had been spreading through Lance’s chest while listening to Coran’s words suddenly dissipates. “Let’s continue with Keith.”

 

 _Keith_. K e i t h Keith  Keith Keith **_Keith_**. Keith. KEITH. **Keith** Keith.

His name is _Keith_ and Lance can feel his heart explode. And in the aftermath Lance sees Keith’s face engraved in the space where his heart used to be. _Keith._

 

“I’m Keith. I’m twenty-two. I study astronautics, physics, and close combat.” He looks at Lance as he says the close combat part and suddenly Lance’s brain begins showing him images of the two boys tangled together on a gym floor. Lance turns red immediately and reprimands his dang brain for, frankly, _not_ helping him right now. Everyone waits for Keith to continue talking, but after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, it becomes obvious that he will not say anything else. 

“Short and sweet, I see,” Coran says, “Well, Keith, the main reasons why I chose you for team Voltron are your confidence and temperament. However, that does not mean that you get a free pass to behave aggressively, especially not when it comes to your teammates.” In the meaningful pause Coran leaves before he starts talking again, Keith does nothing but stare straight at the professor. Coran clears his throat, clearly not expecting that Keith wouldn’t react at all, and continues talking. “Your ability to go out there and grab what you want by its collar is something that will be very useful for our team. But while that is a good thing, be careful not to overdo it. I expect you to listen to your team and not make decisions by yourself, even if you think your solutions are better.”

 

Keith nods curtly and with a loud sigh the kid next to him sets down their phone and starts talking.  
“Well my name is Katie Holt, but I’d prefer it if you would all just call me Pidge. Also, before you ask and inevitably embarrass yourselves, I’m non-binary so my pronouns are they and them. If you can’t deal with that then that’s your problem, not mine. I’m eighteen years old.” At this Lance takes in a loud breath in surprise and draws attention to himself once again. Pidge doesn’t look all that bothered by it and just continues their introduction unfazed.  
“Yeah, I know, I don’t look it. I’m already in my second year at uni though. I study computer science with a major in artificial intelligence and robotics. My hobbies are pretty much in those areas as well, I occasionally hack some sites like your Facebook accounts, except for Keith who seems to be off the grid, kudos to you,” they smirk and continue talking like what they just said wasn’t worrisome at all.  
“I also build robots in my spare time that may or may not have won several robot fights which may or may not have been technically illegal.” They look at the expressions surrounding them, which range from a disapproving scowl from Shiro, to a confused smile from Lance who didn’t really understand half of what Pidge was actually saying, to a start-struck, giddy Hunk who whispers “Pidgeollo two point oh,” in hushed reverence.

Pidge knowingly smirks at him and answers, “The one and only.”

“Oh my, Pidge, I don’t exactly know whether I should be proud or worried about having an almost delinquent in my team,” Coran says, although the sparkle in his eyes definitely suggest the former option. “I’ve actually also seen one of these alleged robot tournaments and since then I knew I absolutely had to have you on this team. Your expertise in technology will be very helpful indeed and will give Voltron a much-needed edge. As for your personality, I hope you’ll be able to let this team into your heart and learn to care for them. I am positive that there will be no problems with them accepting you into theirs. In your core, you’re a very playful and excitable person, and yet, you take no – pardon my language – shit from others. That is very admirable.” Coran smiles at Pidge and they smile back sheepishly, their tough façade crumbing a bit at the edges.

Coran looks expectantly at the last member of team Voltron. “Shiro?”

 

Shiro looks up from the desk. “Yes, uhm, I am Takashi Shirogane, but you guys can all call me Shiro. I am twenty-three years old and I am currently in my fifth year here at Altea University. Most of you probably already know this, but I guess I should say it anyway: I got into this university with a baseball scholarship, so I never really had any time to participate in projects like this. But my baseball career is now over thanks to this-“ Shiro wiggles his prosthetic arm around helplessly and puts it back on the table with a loud bump. “-Ehm sorry about that, I’m still not fully used to it. As for what I’m studying, I mostly take classes related to astronautics, physics, and fitness in outer space. And, well, I can’t think of anything else to say so I guess that’s it.”

“Thank you Shiro,” Coran says, “I chose you to be a part of team Voltron because I believe that you have excellent leadership skills and you are a team player through and through. I hope that you will be able to connect all the members of this team. You are a person who is respected by many people and you treat all of them with respect in return. I really admire that about you. I want you to know that this team will always be here for you, in your good and in your bad days. I would be very happy if, at the end of this program, you learn to trust your fellow teammates as much as they will trust you.”

 

“So that concludes our introductions, team Voltron.” Coran claps his hands together excitedly.  
“Our first task for the competition will be held in two weeks. I do not know anything about the nature of the task yet, but I will inform you as soon as possible. In the mean time -“ Coran takes out a key-ring and dangles it in front of his team -“ Let’s go become a team!”

 

\--------

 

Of all the things that Lance would have expected from being a part of the Altean Space Program, trust falls were not on his top five list. Heck, they weren’t even on his top 5000 list. And yet, here they are, in the training hall Coran had rented for the entire duration of the contest, doing trust falls.

Even though Lance is a bit distracted by Keith just being _right there_ , he manages not to drop Hunk while it’s their turn to work together. Hunk leans back in Lance’s arms and eyes him warily.

“You okay, man?”

Lance looks away from Keith’s back and into Hunk’s worried face.

“Yeah, I guess.” He pauses for a second and then leans down to whisper into Hunk’s ear, afraid that one of his new team-members will overhear. “It’s so weird that he’s here. What should I do? I should apologize, right?”

Hunk nods. “Yeah you gotta. Like, don’t freak out or anything, but he looked _pissed_.”

Lance pushes Hunk back up and they turn around so Lance can fall into his waiting arms next. He closes his eyes and let’s himself fall backwards without hesitating at all, trusting Hunk is the easiest thing Lance had to do all day.

They do this in silence for a while, alternatingly falling into the other’s waiting arms only to switch positions again and again.

“Is it fair, tough?” Lace asks. Keith’s reaction to Lance being a part of Voltron and his antagonistic attitude towards him are bugging Lance a lot, especially since it hadn’t been Lance’s fault. He had to leave and then he came back and he waited for Keith to show up for _hours_. And he never did show up. Lance has a right to be mad about that too, right?

“I mean, I went back and I waited for him. I waited _so long_ , Hunk. And he never showed up. Which means that _he_ actually bolted too. _I_ should be mad! At least I had a reason to leave, and he just didn’t bother.”

Hunk looks skeptical.

“Seriously, Lance. Just apologize. He doesn’t know what happened.”

 

From the sidelines, Coran blows into a whistle to signal a partner switch. Hunk briefly squeezes Lance’s shoulders and Lance nods.

“Yeah, I’m going to apologize, you’re right.”

He starts walking up to Keith with the intention of partnering up with him, apologizing, and then swooning into his arms. It seems like Keith has different plans though. He sees Lance walking towards him and just turns around and grabs Pidge by their arm, leaving Lance to look for a different partner.

Lance scoffs. How childish! Lance is ready to put away his pride and apologize to Keith, and Keith just ignores him!

“Fine!” Lance mutters under his breath. At one point or another Keith and him will be partnered up and if Keith wants to wait until then to get this out of the way, then so be it.

 

Someone taps Lance on the shoulder and he turns around to face Allura smiling softly at him.

“Would you like to partner up?” she asks.

Lance nods enthusiastically and catches Allura as she falls backwards. Then it’s his turn. Lance closes his eyes and mentally prepares himself to just fall.

“Ready ‘Lura?”

“Yep.”

And with that Lance lets his body tilt backwards until he can no longer stop it from falling. Allura catches him with a surprising amount of strength. Lance should have known that, being called the Gym Goddess, Allura would probably be stronger than him, but it still catches him by surprise.

“Damn girl, you should really watch out for the police,” Lance begins, already smiling, as he thinks of a great pickup line.

Allura pushes him back upwards and sighs in defeat. She might not know Lance very well, but thanks to all of her encounters with him so far she knows exactly what will be coming next.

“Why?” She asks. Allura is already smiling from ear to ear in anticipation, even though the tone in which she asks the question could freeze the fiery depths of hell.

Lance snickers and finishes the line.

“It’s illegal to carry guns this big in public!”

Lance is rewarded with a pearl of laughter from Allura as she falls back down into his waiting arms.

“Thanks, Lance.”

 

Coran’s whistle blows again and Lance is approached by Pidge this time.

“Hey Pidge, Pidgelato, Pidgeon, Pidgenado, what’s up?”

Pidge rolls their eyes and positions themselves so that their back is facing Lance.

“Just promise not to use any pickup lines with me and I’ll be peachy,” they say.

Lance’s face turns as red as a tomato. “Ohmygosh you _heard_ that?”

Pidge turns around and looks at Lance like they can’t believe he just asked that.

“You’re not exactly a quiet person, you know?”

Lance throws up his fist to shake it mockingly at the heavens.

“Alas ‘tis the Cuban curse!”

This makes Pidge laugh, and Lance smiles at them and beckons for them to fall into his arms. Lance easily catches Pidge and helps them back up in an instant.

Lance turns around and lets himself fall into Pidge’s arms next.

“Seriously, though,” he says, “Allura and I have an agreement, the pickup lines are kind of our thing. Just for funnsies. So don’t worry about me hitting on you.”

Pidge nods, satisfied with the answer and then smirks knowingly at him.

“Anyone else you would want to hit on though, lover boy?”

Lance almost trips over his own feet as he turns around and glares at Pidge as soon as he feels steady on his feet again.

“How did you know?” He hisses.

Pidge shrugs nonchalantly.

“I know lots of things.”

 

Coran’s shrill whistle cuts through the air and with a final evil smirk, Pidge leaves Lance behind to look for their next partner.

Lance looks around and only Shiro is still standing alone. With nervous butterflies in his stomach Lance walks over to Shiro. He still hasn’t quite processed that he will be in a team with Shiro, who is basically his hero. He already was someone Lance looked up to before his accident, but now? This Shiro who, despite his life having changed so quickly in such a short time, is here, giving his all and making a new life for himself, this Shiro is definitely hero material. Shiro the hero. And Lance the dopey pile of goo walking up to him.

“Ehm, Shiro?” Lance asks once he reaches Shiro’s side.

Shiro jumps a bit in surprise and turns to Lance.

“Oh, yeah. You’re Lance right?”

 _God_ he knows his name.

“Yeah, yup, yessie yes that is me. Lance.” Lance mentally kicks himself. How come he just always forgets how to talk normally when he’s nervous?

Shiro however just smiles kindly.

“Well, I’m afraid you will be doing all the catching this time. I’m not quite sure I trust this arm that much yet.” As if to prove his point, Shiro raises his prosthetic into the air and slowly opens and closes his fist.

“Oh, sure, that’s no problem,” Lance says and opens his arms to show Shiro that he’s ready.

After a few falls, Shiro speaks back up.

“So what’s your deal with Keith? I’ve heard a lot about you from him in these last few days.”

 “You- I- He- What?” Lance splutters.

Shiro eyes Lance for a full minute as Lance’s face grows hotter and hotter.

“I see,” he says finally, “You probably know this already, but I feel like there might have been a misunderstanding between you two.”

Lance nods slowly, what exactly did Keith tell this guy about him?

“I was just about to apologize to him. You know, hopefully clear things up a bit,” Lance said, the nerves from knowing that he would talk to Keith soon flaring up again in his stomach.

“I see. Just be careful, okay? Keith can be a bit… hotheaded.”

 

As if on cue, Coran blows his whistle again and Lance turns to look for Keith, the only member of team Voltron who hasn’t done any trust falls with him yet. He finds him in Hunk’s arms and quickly walks over to the pair.

“Hey Keith,” he says when he reaches both of them.

He’s answered by cold silence from Keith and a look of encouragement from Hunk.

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Hunk says before basically fleeing from the scene.

Lance spreads out his arms in an invitation for Keith to fall into them. He still needs some time to calm down and figure out how exactly he should word his apology, so if Keith doesn’t feel like talking quite yet, that’s alright for Lance. He hopes that the right words will just come to him as they do the exercise, although, from experience, Lance is rather worried that he will find the worst possible words and mess everything up.

Just as Lance starts feeling a bit dumb for standing there and waiting for Keith to do the freaking exercise, Keith speaks up.

“I don’t trust you.”

Lance feels a spark of anger rising in his chest and quickly stomps it down.

“Then I’ll just start,” he chirps and turns around. Without thinking twice Lance lets himself fall down.

Maybe Lance should just say he’s sorry and leave it at that for the time being? Or maybe it would be better to explain every detail of the situation so Keith would really understand?

This fall was starting to feel unnervingly long and, suddenly, instead of meeting Keith’s arms, Lance’s butt makes an unwanted acquaintance with the hard ground.

He just sits there for a bit, unable to really process what just happened. Around him, Shiro and Coran call out Keith’s name simultaneously while Hunk calls out for Lance with worry coating his voice. Allura looks at Lance with wide-open eyes and Pidge’s expression is unreadable as they push themselves out of Allura’s arms.

When Lance turns around to ask Keith what the heck just happened, he just catches a glimpse of him leaving before the door shuts with a loud bang behind him.

Without hesitating, Lance heaves himself up off the ground and jogs after Keith.

 

Thankfully Keith decided to just stomp off angrily instead of running off, so Lance catches up with him pretty quickly.

“Hey! Keith!” He calls out.

Keith turns to him and starts walking faster.

“What?! Dude! Wait up, what the heck?”

Keith stops so he’s just standing there in the empty hallway and Lance jogs to him once again.

His expression looks as dark as a storm cloud before it unleashes its masses of rain.

“ _What_?” Keith spits out.      

Lance almost recoils from the poison in the other man’s voice. Suddenly he’s not so sure what to say anymore.

“I just- Well, I wanted to- No. I need to apologize.”

Keith looks at him with a deadpan look, making Lance swallow loudly.

“The other day, at the baseball game. I- I just-”

 

Keith’s hand flashes towards him and the next thing Lance knows is that Keith is holding him by his collar and shoving him against the cold wall. If it weren’t for the seething rage on Keith’s face, Lance would be _very_ turned on right now.

“Listen Lance, and listen good because I will only say this once. I’m asking you not to come back here. Ever.” Keith presses his hand further into Lance’s collar as if to underline his point.  
“I don’t ever want to see your face again. I don’t ever want you to try to apologize or try to explain what happened that day again. Stay. Away. From. Me.”  
With the last words Keith suddenly lets go of Lance and the other boy falls flat on his butt.

He’s close to tears, but that’s a detail Keith doesn’t get to know since he has already turned around and is walking away. His steps are brisk and even from the ground Lance can see how tense his shoulders are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo I hope you liked it :) They met again! Whoop whoop!!  
> Originally this chapter just went until they finished their introductions, but it just felt so formal! Also I wanted something to happen, you know? And so I added the part with the trust falls  
> Dang it feels lie I worked for ever on it and still it just seems so short?? Idk  
> Also before I lose the nerve to say it, you guys inspire me so much with your wonderful comments and I just want to say that I absolutely adore all of you who read the fic and leave your kudos or a comment <3 You guys are the bestest!!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay sooooo...  
> This was my first fic so I hope whoever read this enjoyed it and also if there's any mistakes (because I'm sure there's like a million) pls feel free to point them out!  
> Also if any of you have any helpful tips or pointers or criticism go ahead :)
> 
> And this chapter was based on this: http://sizvideos.com/post/107983291917/video 
> 
> Btw I don't know shit about baseball so again if there's any mistakes about that pls tell me :)
> 
> Oh man this is so embarrassing (._.)


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